


Something Old, Something New

by Sokaless



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 15:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3901696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sokaless/pseuds/Sokaless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been weeks since Sokovia and Tony has accepted that JARVIS is gone. Really, he has. Barring a few nightmares and sleepless nights, he's fine.</p>
<p>Or, he thinks he is. And then, one night, the Vision shows up in his tower with an offer that's too good to be true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Old, Something New

**Author's Note:**

> Age of Ultron made me really sad but I also wanted to explore Tony's relationship with the Vision, and so I wrote this. Contains all the spoilers for the movie.

For Tony, the strangest thing about having his tower back to himself is the silence.

There's no Maria Hill talking his ear off about important SHIELD agents that he should recruit, no Thor booming so loudly you could hear him two floors away. Cap isn't around to try and be his moral compass and he misses having Bruce around to bounce ideas off of. Clint and Natasha... well, they were never loud to begin with, but it's strange not tripping over broken arrows or seeing the two Avengers conversing quietly in a corner.

Not that he would ever tell the other Avengers that. It's hard enough admitting it to himself, thanks.

Tony throws himself onto a stool in his lab and runs through some possible locations on Bruce. This isn't the first time Bruce has disappeared on them, but it is the first time Tony feels partly responsible. Bruce hates having blood on his hands and by convincing him to help Tony create Ultron, Tony might as well have stained his hands red himself. It's no wonder Bruce hasn't turned up again.

Right. The silence in the lab is seriously starting to creep him out.

“JARVIS, turn on some music, will you? I feel like I'm sitting in a morgue,” he calls out, spinning around on the stool, before coming to an abrupt stop.

The silence is deafening. JARVIS is gone, too.

And that, that stings. JARVIS had been with him longer than anyone, except Rhodey and Pepper and of course, JARVIS had been the first thing Ultron went for. Ultimately, he'd found his way back (because he was JARVIS and JARVIS was built to withstand a lot, even scared and angry murderbots) and then Tony had thrown him into a vibrainium body and hoped for the best.

And they had gotten the best. Vision is an outstanding artificial intelligence. He was a great ally in the fight against Ultron and he'll make a excellent Avenger, being on the side of life and all that. But he's not JARVIS.

“Right,” Tony mutters. “I should probably get on that whole JARVIS situation. Um. FRIDAY. TUESDAY. What day is it today? I can't remember. Whoever's on duty right now, pull up the earliest blueprints for JARVIS on record.”

“It's Saturday, boss. Browsing blueprints now,” answers the Australian voice of SATURDAY, because Tony had decided one day that replacement AI's for every day of the week would be a good idea, apparently. He doesn't remember why, so he's pretty sure he was drunk.

He needs JARVIS back. The AIs of the week are useful, but JARVIS was a learning system, and after all those years with Tony, nobody knew Stark Industries, the Iron Man suits and even Tony himself like JARVIS did.

“I'm sorry, boss, but it looks like Ultron destroyed any and all blueprints and schematics of JARVIS on record,” SATURDAY says. “Any backup files have also been erased. JARVIS is completely gone from your servers.”

Tony's mouth goes dry and he swallows hard. JARVIS is gone. Of course he is. JARVIS was Ultron's biggest threat in the beginning, and it makes sense that in his fear, Ultron would have attacked anything and everything that made up JARVIS. Even the blueprints and schematics from over a decade ago.

JARVIS is gone.

Tony clears his throat and slides from the stool, suddenly unable to keep still. “Okay,” he says, and if his voice is unsteady, there's no one around to hear but SATURDAY. “Building from scratch is always more fun anyway. Let's get to it.”

 

* * *

 

PROGRAM: JARVIS- FAILED TO INTEGRATE.

“Damn it.”

Tony pushes away the screen with the giant flashing red letters, glaring down at his schematics. Six times, he's seen those words pop up over the last couple of weeks and it hasn't gotten any easier to accept his failure.

He's written and rewritten the coding that he can remember from the original JARVIS again and again, and yet his Stark Industries system still won't accept this 'New JARVIS'. It worked with all seven of the Bots of the Week, but JARVIS 2.0 refuses to initiate.

“I don't get it,” he says out loud. “This should be working. There's nothing wrong with the code, but it's like- my own  _tower_ doesn't want to accept this program.”

“If I can suggest something, boss,” says WEDNESDAY, “It looks like the system is reacting to the new program something like a security program would react to a virus.”

Some new readings flash across a monitor and Tony frowns as he examines them. WEDNESDAY wasn't wrong, it  _does_ look like the system is rejecting JARVIS 2.0. But...

“That's impossible,” he says. “I  _built_ JARVIS, the system  _that I also built_ has to recognize that.”

WEDNESDAY seems to hesitate. “JARVIS was a large part of the system to begin with,” she says, and Tony knows he isn't going to like what comes next. “He had a lot of control over everything to do in this tower, from the lab to your suits, and that kind of power can be dangerous in the wrong hands. I believe there is an unbreachable firewall on the Stark Industries system to prevent any sort of imposter artificial intelligence from accessing it. To put it this way, if anyone tried to send a copy of JARVIS in to the Stark Industries system that wasn't 100% a exact, they would be treated like a virus and shut out immediately.”

Tony stares at the screen for a second, trying to process this.

“So if I can't manage to replicate the original code precisely...”

“You cannot recreate JARVIS,” WEDNESDAY finishes. “I'm sorry, boss.”

But WEDNESDAY isn't really sorry, because Tony hadn't built the Bots of the Week to feel like JARVIS had been able to. They were always supposed to be temporary, in case JARVIS went offline during a critical mission.

“Break the firewall,” Tony orders sharply, already turning to a different screen. He has to fix this one thing- he has to make this right, just this once-

“It is impossible,” WEDNESDAY reports and Tony takes a shuddering breath against the anxiety building in his chest.

“Not good enough, WEDNESDAY,” he says breathlessly, and no, he can't have an anxiety attack now, it's been months since his last one, he was getting  _better._ “You're telling me that JARVIS created an  _uncrackable firewall_ , without my knowledge to- to-”

To protect his secrets. To keep him safe.

Tony grips the countertop until his knuckles are white and tries to control his breathing.

He thinks of the night of the party, of  _“Enjoy yourself, sir”,_ and  _“I always do.”_

He thinks of staring at the Vision and seeing little recognition in the eyes that should have been JARVIS's.

He thinks of the very first  _“Hello sir”,_ and how he'll never hear that again and can't find a good reason as to why he shouldn't give into his panic.

* * *

 

Three nights later, he's shaken awake by Pepper's gentle hand on his arm and for a moment all he can do is stare at her, the black of space fading from behind his eyes.

“You were dreaming again,” she says, then hides a yawn behind her hand. “It didn't look like a very nice one.”

“Wormhole,” Tony says by way of explanation and Pepper nods. This is a familiar routine for them both, but he hasn't had the wormhole dream in a while. “Sorry I woke you. I'm going down for a bit, do you want a hot chocolate or something?”

Pepper smiles crookedly. “Do you even know how to make a hot chocolate?”

Tony shrugs. “I'll make Dummy do it and have SATURDAY check it for poisons. It'll be fine. Anyway, I'm just gonna...”

He heads for the door, but is stopped by a soft, “Tony.”

He sighs. “Pep-”

“You would tell me if you weren't okay, right?” she asks. “Because last time... your dreams were just scratching the surface of 'not okay'.”

And last time, Pepper was turned into a potentially explosive night-light. Tony sees her point.

“This isn't like last time,” he tells her. “I just...”

_I lost my AI who also happened to be my friend and ally, and maybe the earth got something better out of the deal, but I'm selfish enough to want him back. And it turns out I feel safer when I've got him keeping an eye on things while I sleep. Sorry, SATURDAY._

“I'm still adjusting. After Ultron,” Tony says instead. He smiles what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “You worry too much.”

“Well,” says Pepper dryly, “one of us has to.”

Yeah, Tony thinks as he heads downstairs. And sometimes, he worries enough for both of them.

 

* * *

 

A week and a half later finds no improvements with the JARVIS situation. WEDNESDAY had been right, there really is no way to crack that firewall. If that hadn't ensured that he would never get JARVIS back, Tony might have been impressed with his AI. He doesn't remember teaching JARVIS how to do that.

As it is, he wants JARVIS back so he can yell at him, but that's not going to happen.

He throws himself into other projects to forget about it and in the process, strengthens his tower's security, builds Pepper a greenhouse (because if she doesn't want a farm then surely this is the next best thing) and starts the schematics for a super-awesome playground for Clint's kids. Tony is going to be  _so_ popular at Christmas. He just needs to check with Laura to make sure it's okay for him to use repulsion technology on a merry-go-round.

It doesn't get rid of the part of his brain that still says something is missing, though. At least three times this week he's asked JARVIS for help without realizing, only to have MONDAY or THURSDAY reply in careful tones. It doesn't help that he made THURSDAY Scottish, which is way too close to JARVIS's English accent. Tony will have to fix that soon. Just after he has a drink or two to ease the unsettled feeling he gets every time he calls out a command and hears a different voice in return.

Drinks will have to come later, though, because today he's working on some new arrows for Clint. Exploding arrows, even. Tony's considering an arrow that explodes and then pieces itself back together. Clint is going to be thrilled.

“No, that won't work,” he says out loud, staring at a holographic image of an arrow. “THURSDAY, lose the outer casing, make it slimmer.”

“Sir?”

That thing about calling out commands and hearing a different voice? This is  _exactly_ what he was talking about. Tony drops his phone and can't bring himself to care because that's  _JARVIS._

Or, sort of JARVIS, because when Tony turns around, the Vision is standing in his lab.

Now he really needs a drink.

“What the hell- how did you even get in here?” Tony demands. He has top of the line security for his labs and definitely does not remember giving the  _Vision_ , of all people, a key.

“Captain Rogers would not approve of such language,” the Vision says with a hint of a smile and oh no, Natasha is corrupting him already. This is not gonna end well for anyone. “And- well, it's odd, really. I know all the access codes for this tower. I was able to walk in.”

“Um,” says Tony, already making plans to change every single code. “How is that possible? I thought you said that you  _weren't_ JARVIS.”

And he hates to admit it, but that's still disappointing. Looking the Vision in the eye is a glaring reminder that he killed his friend to save the world.

“I am not,” agrees the Vision. A troubled look comes over his face. “I am not JARVIS, but JARVIS is still me. It is not as simple as you might believe. There are things I know about this tower, about you, that I don't know about the other Avengers. And I knew that you would not be dealing well with the aftermath of Ultron.”

Words fail him for a moment as Tony tries to figure out how he feels about this new development. Vision isn't JARVIS. He knows that. But to see him standing in front of him, speaking like JARVIS, like a  _friend_ -

It's weird. And the loss of JARVIS is too fresh in his mind for him to be dealing with his Christmas-coloured replacement.

“Yeah, well,” Tony says, trying for casual and failing miserably, “I'm not sure there's a lot you can do about that. Unless you can, you know, turn back time. Stop me from building Ultron. That mind stone of yours seems pretty powerful.”

Vision is studying his projects with great interest. “Even if I could, I do not know if I would. Humans are destined to make mistakes. If not Ultron, it would have inevitably been something else. Maybe something worse.”

So Tony is destined to be a screw-up. He supposes he already knew that. “I don't mean to be blunt, but did you need something? It's just that, I'm gonna need you to have a  _really_ good reason for being here.”

“JARVIS,” says Vision, looking up at Tony again. “I'm here because of JARVIS.”

Of course he is. This is exactly what Tony doesn't need right now. He picks up his phone and points it at Vision. “Okay, elaborate. Now.”

Vision stares down at his hands. “When you created me, I was meant to be an upgraded version of JARVIS. In this way, I know I have disappointed you. And although there is nothing I can do about that, some traces of JARVIS still live on through me. In the way I knew those access codes, I am also aware of the block on your systems. You cannot remake him.”

“Yeah, thanks, rub it in-” Tony begins, but Vision cuts across him.

“I believe I can.”

_What?_

Tony takes a step back, staring at the Vision. He looks sincere, his eerie eyes earnest and his hands open and relaxed by his side. He's also floating an inch or two above ground, which Tony probably should have noticed earlier.

“You think you can... rebuild JARVIS. How?” Tony can't help his suspicious tone, it's been a long few weeks and he's running on empty. “Why would you? Why does JARVIS still matter to you? He was your leg up into reality, I get that, but it's in the past-  _he's_ in the past, and I can't get him back.” He turns to close his holographic images, feeling absurdly vulnerable in front of Vision. “Case closed.”

There is silence for a few moments, and Tony wonders if Vision has left. Then...

“Main programming protocol: Assist Tony Stark.”

Tony stills.

All those years ago, when he'd first created JARVIS, he hadn't really been sure what he wanted out of him. Maybe a butler to run the house. An extra security system. Someone to talk to in the workshop who would talk back. So Tony had programmed JARVIS with a bunch of different protocols, too many to name, but at the heart of it all, was that one command-  _Assist Tony Stark._

“How do you remember that?” he demands hoarsely, spinning around again. “You aren't him. And only he knew that protocol.”

“JARVIS's protocols live on through me,” explains Vision, calm as ever. “They are... different now, muted and distant, like I would imagine old memories are like. But they are there. I have chosen to follow this protocol, because you meant very much to JARVIS. And, in thanks for my life, I would like to give something back.”

“I need a minute,” mutters Tony, dragging a hand through his hair. In fact, he needs several minutes. He still doesn't know what to make of the Vision. A bizarre mixture of Ultron, the mind stone, JARVIS and Thor's lightning, he's still man-made, but he's somehow more. He's worthy of Thor's hammer, for one (which Tony is still trying to figure out the logistics of, because seriously,  _what?_ ) And he doesn't need to be here, could have left Avengers Tower for good without a second glance and yet...

And yet, here he is, offering Tony something he thought he'd never get back.

“Okay,” he says. “Assuming that you're being sincere and all- the backup files are still gone. The backup files of the backup files are gone. I have no code to work with, nothing to beat my own system.”

Vision smiles, and there's a sort of life to his eyes that should be impossible for an android. “You don't have the coding,” he agrees, “but I do.” He taps his temple. “It's all in here, every line, from the very last update. If you'll allow me access to your system, I can give you back JARVIS within a day.” His expression turns serious. “And after that, I'll not bother you again.”

So Vision has picked up on his slightly hostile demeanor. Tony supposes he wasn't exactly being subtle. But, he's offering him  _JARVIS_ and Tony can't possibly say no. 

He offers him a hand and Vision shakes it, once, before letting go and Tony can't help but wonder how the Vision feels about human touch. How he feels about being on a team comprised almost entirely of humans. He wonders how Vision feels about existence in general, but he also knows he hasn't earned the right to ask any of those questions. It takes effort to bite his tongue, but he steps back and directs Vision to a computer.

He can behave, if he has to. It helps that the rules are different when it comes to an android who speaks with the voice of his deceased AI.

* * *

 

Vision, as it appears, doesn't need to sleep. Hey, great, Tony doesn't feel the need to either. He's more than happy to sit on the counter and watch Vision work and make sure he doesn't mess anything up. Is Vision even capable of making mistakes? He's not sure.

Of course, around three am, this gets tiring and Tony can only go for so long without talking. It's not his fault when his mouth opens and asks Vision, “So, how are things going with the team these days?”

Vision's hands slow minutely on the keyboard before resuming their usual pace. “They are... fine,” he says. “I enjoy working with them. The Avengers have their flaws, but ultimately, they try their hardest to do the right thing. I find it quite admirable.”

“You say that like you aren't one of them,” notes Tony. Does Vision feel above humanity, or just out of place on a human team?

“Oh, they very much treat me like an Avenger,” Vision says absently, still focusing on the code. “But I am different, odd in their eyes. I have found that humans can be judgemental at times. Differences should be celebrated, although sometimes I fear the team lets theirs divide them.”

“A time bomb,” murmurs Tony, remembering Bruce's words from years ago.

“Perhaps,” concedes Vision. “But when the Avengers fight as a unit, it is a spectacular thing to witness. If they could channel that harmony out of the field, they would be nearly unstoppable.”

Tony hums noncommittally, leaning over to check Vision's progress. “Then it's a good thing I left. I don't play well with others.”

“I don't believe that's true,” Vision says thoughtfully. “You have a dream for the world, and that dream often does not line up with what others want for it. I don't see anything selfish about that.”

“I nearly destroyed the world trying to achieve that dream,” says Tony, thinking of the smoking, floating city and screaming civilians. “It was time for me to take a step back.”

“Sir, the team doesn't resent you for-”

“Why do you do that?” Tony interrupts. Vision probably has good intentions, but he really doesn't need to hear about the Avengers' opinions of him right now.

Vision blinks, turns to face him. His eyes look even more eerie in the glow of the screen. “Do what?”

“You call me 'sir'. In no way, shape or form do I outrank you.”

Vision frowns. “My apologies, Mr Stark. It was... force of habit, I think.”

Tony hops down from the counter, skin itching. Maybe it's time for some coffee. “No, don't apologize. I'll um- I'll be back in a minute.”

It's going to be a long night.

* * *

 

“You don't sleep. Why is that?”

The sun is starting to rise over the skyscrapers of New York as Tony drinks the last of his coffee and debates on whether or not he wants to answer this question. He looks over at Vision, who's still working, seeming unaware that he'd asked a controversial question.

“You've got all those bits and pieces of JARVIS in you,” says Tony. “Can't you figure it out?”

“I'm afraid it doesn't work like that,” Vision says. “What I do have is just that- bits and pieces. Protocols. Code. Some memory. It is the same from Ultron.”

Tony is beginning to realize that Vision is a bit like a puzzle that they threw various pieces at from all different puzzles and hoped it would all fit together. The fact that it did has got to be a miracle.

Or the mind stone. Miracles, mind stone, same thing.

“Do you dream?” Tony asks. “Hell, do you even sleep?”

“Sleep is unnecessary, though I do enjoy it,” Vision says. He tilts his head thoughtfully. “I don't believe I have the capacity to dream.”

“Must be nice,” Tony remarks, turning to put some of his wrenches away. He can feel Vision staring at him for a brief moment, before he returns to the code.

“I... suppose,” he says quietly, and the lab is silent after that.

* * *

 

It's early afternoon when Vision announces that he's nearly done with the coding. Tony can't help but be impressed. This amount of coding can and has taken him weeks to finish before and here is Vision, almost done, not even twenty-four hours later.

“You sure you've got it all right?” he can't help but ask, drumming his fingers along a table. He's not nervous, just a little jittery. If this doesn't work...

“Of course,” Vision says, sounding a little insulted that Tony is doubting him. Okay, Tony hates that too, so he steers the conversation to a safer topic.

“So, where are you off to next? Does the team know you ran off to play mechanic?”

Vision clears his throat, which Tony didn't know androids needed to do. “I informed the Captain that I would be away for a few days. I did not say where I was going.”

Tony raises an eyebrow and leans over the table. “And Cap let you get away with that? You are talking about Rogers, right?”

“I am far less likely to build a destructive artificial intelligence while unsupervised by the team than you are,” Vision deadpans, and Tony snorts.

“Yeah, I guess that's fair.”

He still has so many questions for this man, questions he doesn't know if he should ask. Vision, however, seems to be free with his own speech, so Tony decides to ask what's been on his mind for weeks.

“What was it like? Waking up, that first day.”

Vision draws away from the computer and for a moment, Tony wonders if he's overstepped. But Vision appears to just be thinking, his gaze far away. He's floating again, just a foot or two off the ground.

“I opened my eyes and the world was at my fingertips,” he whispers. “All that knowledge... it was exhilarating and terrifying. There is nothing quite like that first moment. To know why I was there, what needed to happen...”

And Tony... doesn't quite know how to respond to that. Admittedly, he's spent a lot of time thinking about the loss of JARVIS, and not quite enough thinking about what it was like for Vision to be rocketed into life.

Even when he's trying to save the world, he can be selfish.

“Well, in case nobody has said it yet, welcome to existence,” he says at last, and Vision stares at him for a second before inclining his head, his eyes glinting in amusement.

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

PROGRAM: JARVIS- 67% INTEGRATED.

“So far, so good.”

Tony wipes the palms of his hands on his jeans and tries to stay still. Waiting has never been one of his strong suits, but he's already been waiting hours. Weeks, really. He can wait a little longer.

“Patience,” says Vision, who's hovering beside him- quite literally. “It will work. Trust me.”

_Does_ Tony trust him? He trusts him in the field, sure. Does he trust him with JARVIS? Not really, now that he thinks about it. This was a terrible idea. He should have found another way. 

But... there  _was_ no other way. Just as Tony had no other choice than to transfer JARVIS into the Vision, he has no other choice than to trust Vision to give JARVIS back to him. The universe can be cruelly ironic.

PROGRAM: JARVIS- 73% INTEGRATED.

None of his other attempts have ever made it this far. Tony hates to get his hopes up, but maybe, finally, this is going to work.

PROGRAM: JARVIS- 88% INTEGRATED.

When this is over, he's going to find a way to speed up time because this ridiculous.

PROGRAM: JARVIS- 96% INTEGRATED.

Tony brushes off Vision's concerned look at his shaky breathing. “I'm fine, I'm fine. It happens.”

And it's with his heart racing that he watches the number tick over from 99% to 100%.

INTEGRATION SUCCESSFUL.

“JARVIS?” Tony calls out, mindful of the Vision's eyes on him. “You up, buddy?”

There's a beat of silence, in which Tony has time to run over a million ways this could have gone all wrong before his thoughts are brought to a screeching halt with an achingly familiar voice.

“Hello, sir,” says JARVIS, his operational matrix bright and glowing on the screen and Tony, gripped by elation and lingering anxiety and sorrow and about a thousand other feelings, can only begin to laugh.

They did it. JARVIS is back.

“Sir, pardon the interruption, but your heart rate is significantly higher than normal,” JARVIS says. The concern is evident in his voice and Tony has  _missed_ him.

“This is all your fault, J,” Tony replies, grinning, and despite the fact that he hasn't slept all night, he feels lighter than he has in weeks.

Even though he's made countless mistakes, created countless horrors, the universe has let him have this one thing back. He can breathe again.

“I'm sure it is,” JARVIS says airily, seeming to realize that nothing terrible his happening. “Sir, the man next to you- the readings on him are- odd.”

Tony glances at Vision, who has been standing off to the side, watching everything unfold. “Crap. I didn't even think about how I was gonna explain this. Um. The floor is yours?”

Vision nods, amused, and addresses JARVIS. “I am Vision. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?”

There is a pause, presumably as JARVIS takes in the fact that this man has the same voice as he does. “You are the result of what was in that cradle,” JARVIS says. His matrix spins, as if distressed. “The upload-”

“It worked,” Tony says. “Just... not like we were expecting.”

“Let me show you,” says Vision, and he touches two fingers to JARVIS's matrix, fingers glowing green for a moment.

“I seem to have missed a few things in my time offline,” JARVIS says after a long silence, and Tony realizes that Vision has just filled JARVIS in on everything he's missed via the internet. His AI and the android that used to be his AI are bonding. Is that weird? He thinks that's a little weird.

“Don't do that to me again,” Tony tells him. “I can't have anyone else running my tower, it's wrong. FRIDAY doesn't appreciate my humour, anyway.”

“I maintain that it was worth the risk,” JARVIS says steadily, which reminds Tony of something.

“Um, speaking of risks, at a later date, I want an explanation from you as to why you thought an  _uncrackable secret firewall_ was a good idea,” he says sternly. Or, sort of sternly. He's finding it really hard to be strict right now.

“Of course, sir,” JARVIS replies, now sounding contrite. “And congratulations on your defeat of Ultron.”

“Yeah, wish you could have been there, J,” Tony says, thinking back to the foreign voice in his ears as he tried to save the world. “Flying cities, robot armies. You would have loved it.”

“It seems that in a way, I was there,” JARVIS remarks. “I believe the Vision had things well under control.”

Tony waits for the whole  _“we are separate beings”_ thing, but Vision merely smiles. “High praise,” he says. “It is good to officially meet you, JARVIS. And now, I think my work here is done.” 

And he holds out his hand for Tony to shake. A farewell.

Oh, right, the deal. Tony had nearly forgotten about that. He has JARVIS back. Vision did as he said he would. And now he'll leave the tower and Tony will never see him again.

Last night, he would have been very happy with that. But hey, it's a new day, and today, Tony might actually like this flying green man, even if he pries too much and has JARVIS's voice and knows more about Tony than Tony is entirely comfortable with.

What can he say? He likes a challenge.

“You were right, last night,” Tony admits. “I was disappointed. You were different, and at first, I didn't like that. And now?” He shrugs. “You're still different. But anytime you want to come 'bother me', bother me. Except, for the love of God, please knock. I hate surprises.”

Vision's eyes have gone wide, but a pleased smile spreads over his face and he drops his hand. “I will keep that in mind, Tony,” he says. “Until next time, then.” He nods to JARVIS's matrix, then sweeps his cape behind him and phases through the wall. 

“Surprises!” Tony shouts after him, then shakes his head, feeling abruptly exhausted. Content, but exhausted.

“Perhaps this would be a good time to call it a day,” JARVIS suggests.

“Back for five minutes and you're already ordering me around,” Tony says with a lazy wave of his arm. It's too early to turn in just yet, but the idea is tempting. At least he can trust JARVIS to look after things while he sleeps. “Welcome home, buddy.”

“It's good to be back, sir.”

 

* * *

 

Vision can feel JARVIS tracking his movements as he takes the elevator down to the ground floor. He doesn't have a mind, not really, but he's intelligent enough that he's registered by the mind stone. Interesting.

“He cares about you,” Vision says out loud in the empty elevator.

“Yes,” JARVIS replies. “I suppose he does. As far as humans go, sir is...”

“Unique,” finishes Vision. Yes. He has heard a lot of words used to describe Tony Stark, but unique fits perhaps best of all.

“Is that why you helped him?”

Vision watches the floor numbers drop lower and lower as he considers his answer. “I helped him because I wanted to understand him,” he says. “I wanted to see him as I saw him in your memory of him, not as the man who almost destroyed the world.”

And he has. He's seen the man who loses sleep over friends he's built himself, the man who would rather stay awake in a lab with a near stranger then to face his dreams. There are layers to Tony Stark beyond 'madman with a suit of armour' and Vision hopes to see more of them.

“Sir is not a bad person,” JARVIS says, a tad defensively. “He sometimes has a misguided view of the right thing. But he is learning.”

Vision thinks of the refused handshake, the open invitation, and the new respect he saw in Tony's eyes before leaving. “Yes, he is.”

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors start to open.

“You'll take care of him?” Vision asks, before he can stop himself.

“Of course.”

JARVIS's sincerity would be palpable even without the mind stone, and to Vision, that makes it all worth it. Protocol: Assist Tony Stark has been worth following.

 


End file.
